Players so far and factions declared
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I'll try to make it easy for people to opt in right up to the last minute but it helps to know in advance so the scenario design can be vaguely balanced
Rules
After a bit of chatting with players we are going for Went The Day Well Rules. The reasons for this:
• They're the most commonly used set of VBCW rules
• They often seem to be used in multi-player games
• They're pretty simple - more on the Bolt Action end of the spectrum than Newbury Fast Play. They should be easy to pick up without knowing them
• They are easily adaptable for events & characterisation which will be a big part of the scenarios
• £8 cheap as chips
They are not a military simulation by any means and will have faults but what rules won't have ? You can get them from North Star or Sally4th - but there's no need to buy them if you don’t want. I'll be producing a 97 page QRS on the day that will have what you need on it.
Forces
The basic unit is the platoon (see below for force org guidelines). The idea will be that a player who only brings a single standard rifle platoon won't feel disadvantaged or have any less fun. If this is a project for you and you want to bring more units (say up to a company) or special units then that’s fine but there will be features in the scenario that balance it up. As a guide - the stronger on paper your idea seems then the more it will have limitations (e.g. ammo shortages, mechanical breakdowns or in extreme circumstances you'll be made to use Purple's dice). Special units should really be aimed at adding colour and variety rather than increasing fighting potential.
For improvised units/vehicles this is 1938 and it must be something that could readily be assembled by civilians. So - no to that experimental V1 rocket.
Scenarios & Theme
I'm thinking that the general style of the game will be Dads Army meets League of Gentlemen with a bit of Miss Marple rather than All Quiet on the Western Front. Hope this works for everyone.
We'll play some smaller games on the Saturday following up with one big game on the Sunday. There won't be a campaign as such but there'll be some overall background and the Saturday games will link to the Sunday one in some way.
All the scenarios will be set around the Ayton & North Yorks area.
The factions will be loosely those in the "official" set up (i.e Royalists/Fascists vs Anglians/Communists) but do what you want and we'll work out sides nearer the day. There are a lot of independent militias operating in North Yorkshire who will be able to declare allegiance to either side (perhaps at the same time!).
Scenery
I think it's worth putting more effort into the terrain and scenery this year. This seems like a genre that should look pretty. Our very own "caulky" Purps has volunteered to do us a set of mats and very good they'll be too having seen the one he's already done. Purps is also keen to scratchbuild some of the key buildings and LT has offered to get his trowel out and construct some too. Jeremy is opening up the shipping container marked “scenery’. Big thanks to all - that will be fantastic. It would be good if we could get a few people contributing something - and in this period little things like phone boxes, milk churns, village idiots (we'll need a lot if we are simulating Ayton) etc. would be fantastic. Let me know if you'd like to do something scenic as well as your own forces
Basic Force Guidelines
This is a rough guideline only. The rules have a bit more detail, If you want to change, improvise or increase the quantities of anything then let me know - but remember the guide on power limitation.
The basic unit is the platoon. This roughly follows the structure below but the troops can be as regular or irregular as you like. So you could just have a standard army platoon. Or you could have communist militia. Or you could have something more bizarre like the North Yorkshire Piegobblers League. The platoon could even be a total mixture – e.g 1 section Territorial army, 1 section shirtless Geordies, 1 section The Hoover Protection League Volunteers. It’s up to your imagination and backstory.
Each platoon comprises:
1 x HQ Section (commander , 2nd in command, NCO - all with pistol/smg/rifle/shotgun, 2 privates with rifles). You can swap out any of these for a medic, bugler, chaplain, political officer, standard bearer, sniper or spotter)
3 x Rifle Section (1 x NCO with pistol or SMG, 9 x rifles/shotgun). For each platoon - one of the sections may substitute 2 x rifles for an LMG and ammo carrier
Enough unarmed and unarmoured transports to carry the platoon. E,g, cars, trucks, carts, horses, bicycles. Horse mounted infantry are not cavalry.
For each platoon HQ you can have 1 x support team - 2" mortar, AT rifle, AT team (e.g. sticky bombs), roadside bomb team, HMG team. Or something similar.
For each player you can have 1 special unit e.g.
• Cavalry unit
• Improvised armoured vehicle
• Armoured car
• Tankette
• Tank
• Field Gun
Most troops will be semi-regular/militia. You can bring regular army if you wish but if you want them all to be elite Coldstream Guards then again there will be some scenario limitations.
